Bill Grogan, veteran radio guy and Stanfield speech writer, dead at 80

William Douglas Grogan died on  July 4, 2015 at the Concordia health facility in Bella Vista, Arkansas, at age 80. He was born, raised and educated in Winnipeg, where he had a memorable career in radio, TV and the local entertainment scene until the late seventies when he became a Special Assistant to the late Hon. Robert Stanfield. On Stanfield's retirement, Bill joined the Public Service of Canada and served in several appointments at the Executive level until his retirement in 1994.
In the 1970s, Bill was a gregarious regular at the old Ottawa Press Club.
Ottawa Citizen death announcement

CBC introduces bullying helpline for staff in wake of Ghomeshi scandal

The CBC has introduced a “bullying and harassment helpline” to hear complaints about inappropriate behaviour in the workplace, the Globe and Mail reports.

The measure is in response to the Rubin report, which lambasted managers for the way they handled alleged misconduct by disgraced radio star Jian Ghomeshi.

Members of a committee working on the report’s recommendations announced the phone line in a memo to staff.

The committee says the line will “help ensure a workplace we can all be proud of.” They also promise no personal information will be shared with CBC/Radio-Canada or anyone else.

Lawyer Janice Rubin launched the investigation after CBC fired Ghomeshi in October, 2014, saying there was “graphic evidence” he had caused physical injury to a woman.
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Federal election’s broadcast consortium debate cancelled

The Globe and Mail's James Bradshaw reports:
"There will be no federal election debate airing on Canada’s national over-the-air broadcasters, breaking a tradition of coast-to-coast televised debate coverage that stretches back to 1968.

"Despite months of discussions, the consortium of public and private networks that has long framed national election debates had to cancel its event planned for Thursday after failing to get the leading political parties on board.

"Instead, the party leaders chose where they would spar from a menu of pitches put forward by other media and civic-minded organizations, fragmenting the national debate and reshaping the way Canadians tuned in to watch. The chair of the consortium now believes the group was the victim of a boycott, and there are calls for an independent body to co-ordinate future debates, helping check the parties’ power over the process.

"It was only last week that the consortium’s networks – the CBC, CTV, Global, Radio-Canada and Télé-Québec – released the time slots they had held open for the English debate back to regular programming. That marked an end to months of talks which began with two private, all-party meetings the CBC hosted at its Toronto headquarters on April 24 and in its Ottawa offices on May 21. The Conservative Party rejected the consortium’s proposals and it became clear “that things were not going to be the same as they had been in years past,” consortium chair Jennifer McGuire, the general manager and editor-in-chief of CBC News, said in an interview."
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Colin Perkel's review of Louie Palu's documentary on Afghanistan

Excerpt:
"After five years of working in Kandahar, I'm not sure any of my work connects to anyone," he (Palu) ponders. "How can I possibly convey the reality of war?"
His efforts to enlighten folk back home is at the core of his 75-minute "Kandahar Journals," slated to air nationally on the CBC and the Documentary Channel on Oct. 6. It's no Hollywood production. Instead, his often shaky, small-cam video interspersed with photographs covers a war from the mundane and banal to the beyond brutal, with little gloss or fanfare.
Full review

Long-time CJOH anchor Max Keeping dead at 73

Long-time anchor of Ottawa's CJOH, Max Keeping, has died after a long and debilitating battle with cancer. He was 73.
Winston Maxwell Keeping retired from CTV Ottawa five years ago after 37 years on the anchor desk.

Keeping moved to Ottawa from Grand Bank, Newfoundland in 1965 to work as a parliamentary radio reporter for CFRA. His ability to break stories helped to land him his first TV job as a national parliamentary reporter for CTV News

In 1972, after a failed run to become a Newfoundland MP – he took over the anchor desk at CJOH, Ottawa.
CTV Ottawa obit
Globe and Mail obit